Welcome to DBSTalk

Welcome to DBSTalk. Our community covers all aspects of video delivery solutions including: Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), Cable Television, and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). We also have forums to discuss popular television programs, home theater equipment, and internet streaming service providers. Members of our community include experts who can help you solve technical problems, industry professionals, company representatives, and novices who are here to learn.

Like most online communities you must register to view or post in our community. Sign-up is a free and simple process that requires minimal information. Be a part of our community by signing in or creating an account. The Digital Bit Stream starts here!

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb!

Do the people that write the code for these boxes ever actually use them? Today I have to wonder.

Here's the reason for my anger...

I live in the Northeast and my dish is covered with snow today but that's not such a big deal as I have an antenna connected to my HR20 so I can watch the NFL w/o problems - or so I thought.

Every so often today I got a prompt about the box not getting guide data which is understandable as it cannot get any info as the dish is covered in snow.

At about 10 pm while I was watching the Sunday night game, I was probably an hour behind live at the time, I got a prompt about the guide data again. This time it said that a reboot usually fixes the problem.

I was not asked if I wanted to reboot, I was just shown a screen with one choice, "OK", and then the machine rebooted. A reboot on this machine takes about 18 minutes.

When the machine came up it could not find the signal and now I cannot watch TV off my antenna as it won't let me bring up the guide or enter a channel number.

I called DirecTV and after 15 minutes of the tech researching he said that I cannot use the antenna connection if the sat signal isn't active.

If the Directv box doesn't get the satellite signal, it displays a message stating 'your receiver has not received guide information from the satellite for (x) hours. Please contact Directv Customer Service (920). After 10 hours, the box will reset and if you still don't have signal, you will get no guide, no ability to tune any channel, satellite or OTA. I wish this time period were several days, so that I could get some use from my receiver while I am waiting for the service appointment...

It would take about 20 minutes to move everything and disconnect the antenna and then scan with the TV and by then I would have lost my 1 hour behind + 18 min reboot + 20 minutes.

My dish sits near the peak of my roof. It is about 40' off the ground and I'd need to be about 40' away from the dish to see it from the ground. I cannot imagine anything non DoD that could propel a liquid that high and far with enough energy to melt away all the snow/ice off the dish but I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks for the suggestion but what would I have gotten from that except for the hour I was 'behind'? Would the box have thought better than to reboot on me because I was recording?

I still cannot get over these two things:1. ask before doing something so disruptive like rebooting2. don't disable the antenna b/c of a sat signal

You ignored the signal issues multiple times according to your original post. You could have reconnected the antenna directly to your display after the first alert or you also could have used a broom or something to clear enough snow. I'm only 5'10...an 8.5' roof and another 1-2' for the dish height means that my arms extended over my head plus the length of a snow removal tool (such as a broom) would only need to be about 5' in length to clear the snow. A standard broom is 4-5' long. Unless my math is off.

It would take about 20 minutes to move everything and disconnect the antenna and then scan with the TV and by then I would have lost my 1 hour behind + 18 min reboot + 20 minutes.

My dish sits near the peak of my roof. It is about 40' off the ground and I'd need to be about 40' away from the dish to see it from the ground. I cannot imagine anything non DoD that could propel a liquid that high and far with enough energy to melt away all the snow/ice off the dish but I'm open to suggestions.

You said you got the notice throughout the day, but the reboot didn't happen until 10 PM. I would have thought, "hmm...maybe I should do something." Occasional dish snow removal in the northeast is a given. If you can't access the dish, have a backup plan for TV viewing during winter weather. Split your antenna signal to both the HR20 and the display and put up with live TV until you get a signal back.

You ignored the signal issues multiple times according to your original post. You could have reconnected the antenna directly to your display after the first alert or you also could have used a broom or something to clear enough snow. I'm only 5'10...an 8.5' roof and another 1-2' for the dish height means that my arms extended over my head plus the length of a snow removal tool (such as a broom) would only need to be about 5' in length to clear the snow. A standard broom is 4-5' long. Unless my math is off.

8/12 is the pitch of my roof. For every foot of run it rises 8 inches - it is too steep to mess with in the snow/ice. There is no reaching it with any broom but the flying kind and my wife is out haunting others with that one.

Yes, I could have connected the TV if I knew that the alternative was to lose everything. Maybe if I knew that was going to happen I would have. Maybe the developers who did know that was going to happen could have been kind enough to tell me in a prompt on the screen.

8/12 is the pitch of my roof. For every foot of run it rises 8 inches - it is too steep to mess with in the snow/ice. There is no reaching it with any broom but the flying kind and my wife is out haunting others with that one.

Yes, I could have connected the TV if I knew that the alternative was to lose everything. Maybe if I knew that was going to happen I would have. Maybe the developers who did know that was going to happen could have been kind enough to tell me in a prompt on the screen.

The multiple notices that there was an issue were a hint. It was trying to resolve the issue since you had not. You chose to watch programming from a buffer while having signal issues.

I don't know why everyone is giving you a hard time over this. If you could go up to your roof and clear the snow I'm sure you would have. Forcing you to reboot is stupid...they should give you the option to reboot when you want to. I love DirecTV but it's in no way perfect.

8/12 is the pitch of my roof. For every foot of run it rises 8 inches - it is too steep to mess with in the snow/ice. There is no reaching it with any broom but the flying kind and my wife is out haunting others with that one.

Yes, I could have connected the TV if I knew that the alternative was to lose everything. Maybe if I knew that was going to happen I would have. Maybe the developers who did know that was going to happen could have been kind enough to tell me in a prompt on the screen.

You need one of those rear car window wipers up there with a remote.

I have always said someone could watch a dvrs recordings anywhere if they had it connected to a battery backup when they moved it.I had to revise that thinking the other day when one of my hr20's was disconnected for 24 hrs and kept rebooting on its own.

I have always said someone could watch a dvrs recordings anywhere if they had it connected to a battery backup when they moved it.I had to revise that thinking the other day when one of my hr20's was disconnected for 24 hrs and kept rebooting on its own.

How funny you mention that. While clearing the snow off my Expedition today I broke my rear wiper.

It appears that you may have missed this post. If your dish is 40' off the ground I would invest in one for sure, falling from a 3 - 4 level home would be fatal. In the mean time I would consider splitting the OTA signal and connecting your TV to the antenna now so you can switch in the future.

The multiple notices that there was an issue were a hint. It was trying to resolve the issue since you had not. You chose to watch programming from a buffer **provided from an antenna source*** while having signal issues with satellite, which shouldn't matter.

[MOD EDIT]FIFY. Nice assumption he could get to his dish with a broom.

... I'm only 5'10...an 8.5' roof and another 1-2' for the dish height means that my arms extended over my head plus the length of a snow removal tool (such as a broom) would only need to be about 5' in length to clear the snow. A standard broom is 4-5' long. Unless my math is off.

8/12 refers to the slope of his roof -- 8 inches downslope for every foot -- very steep, and his dish is 40' off the ground, not 8.5 ft.

Do the people that write the code for these boxes ever actually use them? Today I have to wonder.

Here's the reason for my anger...

I was not asked if I wanted to reboot, I was just shown a screen with one choice, "OK", and then the machine rebooted. A reboot on this machine takes about 18 minutes.

This is infuriating!

Most electronic messages will default to what is shown if you do not change the choice.I have not had this problem so I am asking if anyone else has and when the message is on the screen press the "Exit" button. Will that stop the reboot ? If you get this situation again, press the "Exit" button and see if it works.

Great how once again a shortcoming of DirecTV Engineering is somehow the fault of the paying customer….

Give me a break!

Cummon Mike - I don't see this as "the fault of" anyone.

There's no engineering I'm aware of that makes snow "invisible".

Having lived in that climate more years than not myself (but no longer)...it's an unfortunate price you pay for residing in the "great white north".

I have vivid memories over decades of time of both cable and sat services being interrupted in winter because of snow cover. Ironically, the cable "went out" far more than the sat signal, but in both cases....it happened < 1-2 times a year.

There's also nothing a customer can do because their roof happens to have a steep pitch and that's where their dish is mounted. Despite now living in a much warmer climate...I still happen to have a steep-pitch roof scenario here at this time.

I made a conscious choice 12 years ago for a pole-mounted Dish and have never had a problem with it. In the event of any required service, or even just a re-alignment...a tech can walk right up to it to deal with it. Perhaps that's an option for the OP once the snow season ends.

It appears that you may have missed this post. If your dish is 40' off the ground I would invest in one for sure, falling from a 3 - 4 level home would be fatal. In the mean time I would consider splitting the OTA signal and connecting your TV to the antenna now so you can switch in the future.